Mia Heathcote's Story —
Pointe Shoe Appeal
For Company Artist Mia Heathcote, pointe shoes were a huge part of her ballet beginnings.
"I received my first (not real) pair as a present at the ridiculous age of four! They were these tiny, little blue satin pointes and they were honestly the cutest thing ever. I used to try and stand up on them, with my hands on the kitchen bench, calling out “look at me, look at me!” to my parents.
There’s a hilarious home video of me putting on a pair of Mum’s (Kathy Reid) pointe shoes, which were comically large for my little feet. I stood there holding onto the bench and demanded my parents “CLAP! Why aren’t you clapping for me?” They were crying with laughter. I’d like to think I’ve grown out of that crazy child stage and my love of dance has matured to include an appreciation for applause, rather than an expectation!
It was wonderful to grow up in a ballet environment as a toddler (both Mia’s parents were professional dancers), spending my time in the studios and at dress rehearsals ignited my love of ballet. I adored the prettiness of the pointe shoes and the sound they made. Watching the professional dancers as they gracefully floated across the floor, pirouetting at lightning speed and defying gravity. It was fascinating to me and I really wanted to be part of that world.
I received my first real pair of pointe shoes at 11 years of age, they weren’t blue! My relationship with my pointes is ever-changing, it’s an ongoing journey of tweaking your shoes to match your feet and it all depends on what may feel better, what may not be working, and what the Company is working on at the time.
Everyone’s pointe shoes are so individual. There are many different brands of pointe shoes. At Bloch, they have all sorts of standard styles, although the amount of customisations you can make to them are almost endless. When I was in Level 7 at The Australian Ballet School, I remember going into the company shoe room and trying on a pair that just fit like a glove – they were Lana Jones’s shoes – I thought to myself, “yep, these are mine; these are my shoes!” I continue to wear that style today, but have made a few changes to better suit my feet. I’m now wearing MH7, so that’s 7 different tweaks in my shoes since being in the Company. I was lucky to have found something I liked, and to keep to the same style over such a long time, as it can be very hard to find the perfect fit and feeling.
To prepare my pointe shoes I break them in slightly with my hands, I darn the edges, take out the nail that’s in the heel with pliers, and then wet the whole box of the shoe before standing on them. This makes them more malleable and when I slide my foot in, it isn’t so hard. The darning helps with balancing and it lengthens the line a little. When I go up in the pointes I want to make them feel like an extension of my own foot. This is what works for me. Every dancer’s pointe shoe preparation really is unique!"